Thread: You wouldn't find this in any fact book

I found this on yahoo and Earnest T PhD/THC deserves all the credit for posting it.

Facts you'll probably never see on any 'fact check'. --

Here's one that your Spanish teacher will love -- I never thought much about my high school Spanish classes and never thought I learned much or would ever use it until I arrived in Panama and then realized that I did in fact learn quite a bit Spanish from class . And needed Spanish on a daily basis. Suddenly it all made sense and now I can speak Spanish fairly fluently !

Panama has the most varieties of birds anywhere in the world . I think there are about 300+ varities .....including the Fruit Loop bird, the toucan !

The Panama Canal Locks are drained every 7 years to clear debris . Panamanians love this because many fish get trapped there and provide food for the poor .

Kuna and San Blas Indians native to Panama are the most friendly and peace-loving people I have ever met . They also almost worship Americans because we are so much taller than them . Most of them are only about 5ft tall .

Even today you can scuba dive in the Chagres River at the mouth of the Caribbean, in front of the old Spanish fort of Ft. San Lorenzo, and find Spanish gold coins from hundreds of years ago !

Monkey meat bbq'ed on a stick is sold on street corners everywhere . AND it tastes great !

Panamanian children often approach Americans trying to sell them Chicles (pronounced Chee-clays) . Chicles is actually chewing gum derived from tree bark and that's where the name of the American chewing gum Chicklets comes from.

Until the early 80's there were large neighborhoods of Americans in Panama . I think at one point there were 30,000 American civilians living in these neighborhoods . Most worked for the Panama Canal Commission (PCC) working for the operations of the Panama Canal.

Here's an odd one -- Panamanians who smoke cigarettes often open the pack on the bottom instead of the top . They do this because communicable diseases like Pink-eye are prevalent and therefore they only want to touch the tobacco end and not the butt end...just in case they borrow a cigarette or someone borrows one from them !

The darker Panamanians originally from the West Indies and other similar countries often argue very beligerently with each other, often almost getting to the point of a fist-fight, BUT they rarely actually fight and go back to being friends as soon as that particular conversation is over .

Calling someone 'fat' is not the same insult as it would be here in America . In fact, 'fat' people often call other fat and there's no problem at all .

Scorpion bites are common in the jungle and don't cause the serious health problems or death like most Americans think . I've been bitten many times, and yes, it hurts, and there is swelling, but it goes away in a day or two.

Orchids and other flowers grow on tree branches and rarely on the ground .

The fine for killing a vulture is much higher than the fine for killing an eagle ! Vultures eat and clear roadkill and therefore are seen as more valuable .

It was once illegal(early 80's) to jog or exercise in Panama if you were wearing a white t-shirt and beige trunks !! Sounds stupid doesn't it . But Manual Noriega was a ruthless leader and wanted to jail as many U.S. soldiers as possible, and soldiers wore white t-shirts and beige trunks when jogging .

Although most Panamanians speak both Spanish and English, most of them mistakenly use the word 'next' in place of the word 'another' . Example -- 'I want a next hamburger' instead of 'I want another hamburger'.

^excellent post!

yes nice post indeed! hope everybody understands tho, that many monkeys-species are endangered, and probably buying and/or eating isnt a good idea!

Hi Jan, what brings a Dutchy to this site? Just the other day we had a discussion on the color of a website. You'd love it. It's your national color. Once, I had the honor to wear a tie in that color. It was the Queens birthday party in Toronto, the second largest in the World. Talk about holding up tradition.

Hey more dutch people?! lets celebrate the next queensday in panama somewhere!?! (im dutch also)

I am originally from south of the boarder but I very much sympathize with your traditions and general mentality. .... as long as you can refrain from mentioning a certain goal that seemed to have changed your world. lol

Originally Posted by speedy

Hi Jan, what brings a Dutchy to this site? Just the other day we had a discussion on the color of a website. You'd love it. It's your national color. Once, I had the honor to wear a tie in that color. It was the Queens birthday party in Toronto, the second largest in the World. Talk about holding up tradition.

well im moving to panama soon so thats how i ended up here! we're taking over the place! me, annepannetje and wild bill lol

Originally Posted by speedy

Facts you'll probably never see on any 'fact check'. --

Here's one that your Spanish teacher will love -- I never thought much about my high school Spanish classes and never thought I learned much or would ever use it until I arrived in Panama and then realized that I did in fact learn quite a bit Spanish from class . And needed Spanish on a daily basis. Suddenly it all made sense and now I can speak Spanish fairly fluently !

Panama has the most varieties of birds anywhere in the world . I think there are about 300+ varities .....including the Fruit Loop bird, the toucan !

The Panama Canal Locks are drained every 7 years to clear debris . Panamanians love this because many fish get trapped there and provide food for the poor .

Kuna and San Blas Indians native to Panama are the most friendly and peace-loving people I have ever met . They also almost worship Americans because we are so much taller than them . Most of them are only about 5ft tall .

Even today you can scuba dive in the Chagres River at the mouth of the Caribbean, in front of the old Spanish fort of Ft. San Lorenzo, and find Spanish gold coins from hundreds of years ago !

Monkey meat bbq'ed on a stick is sold on street corners everywhere . AND it tastes great !

Panamanian children often approach Americans trying to sell them Chicles (pronounced Chee-clays) . Chicles is actually chewing gum derived from tree bark and that's where the name of the American chewing gum Chicklets comes from.

Until the early 80's there were large neighborhoods of Americans in Panama . I think at one point there were 30,000 American civilians living in these neighborhoods . Most worked for the Panama Canal Commission (PCC) working for the operations of the Panama Canal.

Here's an odd one -- Panamanians who smoke cigarettes often open the pack on the bottom instead of the top . They do this because communicable diseases like Pink-eye are prevalent and therefore they only want to touch the tobacco end and not the butt end...just in case they borrow a cigarette or someone borrows one from them !

The darker Panamanians originally from the West Indies and other similar countries often argue very beligerently with each other, often almost getting to the point of a fist-fight, BUT they rarely actually fight and go back to being friends as soon as that particular conversation is over .

Calling someone 'fat' is not the same insult as it would be here in America . In fact, 'fat' people often call other fat and there's no problem at all .

Scorpion bites are common in the jungle and don't cause the serious health problems or death like most Americans think . I've been bitten many times, and yes, it hurts, and there is swelling, but it goes away in a day or two.

Orchids and other flowers grow on tree branches and rarely on the ground .

The fine for killing a vulture is much higher than the fine for killing an eagle ! Vultures eat and clear roadkill and therefore are seen as more valuable .

It was once illegal(early 80's) to jog or exercise in Panama if you were wearing a white t-shirt and beige trunks !! Sounds stupid doesn't it . But Manual Noriega was a ruthless leader and wanted to jail as many U.S. soldiers as possible, and soldiers wore white t-shirts and beige trunks when jogging .

Although most Panamanians speak both Spanish and English, most of them mistakenly use the word 'next' in place of the word 'another' . Example -- 'I want a next hamburger' instead of 'I want another hamburger'.

Regarding the chicles, I was in Mexico last month and took a horse-back excursion into the Sierra Madre mountains. My guide pointed to a nearby tree (its appearance was unremarkable) and asked if I knew what kind of tree it was. I said "no", and he said it was a chicle. He knicked the trunk with his machete and white sap came out. He put a little sap on a leaf and handed it to me.
I put the sap in my mouth and chewed it about 3 times and the sap turned into gum. Exactly like any gum you would buy at the store, it was just completely flavorless. He explained how the sap is collected and water is mixed in, then its is hung and left to strain through a mesh bag and then you can add the flavor of your choice. I was impressed that I got to try gum right out of the tree, but then I am easily amused.

Also, throughout the day my guide was answering my questions about the different types of plants and trees we were seeing, and I saw some larger, very attractive trees that had a beautiful reddish colored bark that peeled off the tree all over. I asked what kind of tree it was. He said it's called the "gringo tree". I asked why gringo tree. He said because the skin is red and it's always peeling!!!

I'm curious about the monkey kabobs. Do the street vendors who sell these openly tell you what kind of meat it is? Is it Spider Monkey, or Howler Monkey, or what? What's it like? Tender or stringy, tough? Sounds like something I would try.

hey, in which place you can buy "mother nature chicle"? Never seen that ... same with the monkey thing, where I can buy that? So far, I only see fruits and some veggies that you can buy in the street.

Cheers

great info. thanks

i would really have a hard time eating monkey , made friends with a local black handed spider monkey and spent many hours just sitting with her, scratching her back and she loved to rub my bald head , loved her little treats everyone gave her , she is no longer with use but will be remembered by the thousands you saw her by her little place along the highway , just would be hard to eat something you were friends with , but each to his own , someday maybe we can chow down on your dog , or cat , the other white meat LOL

I am somewhat skeptical of "monkey meat bbq'ed on a stick is sold on street corners everywhere". I've eaten a lot of the meat sold by street vendors in PC and I'm fairly certain the meat they are selling is beef. I imagine it is much cheaper and more plentiful than monkey meat would be. It's all about the dinero....

Originally Posted by nakedguydb

i would really have a hard time eating monkey , made friends with a local black handed spider monkey and spent many hours just sitting with her, scratching her back and she loved to rub my bald head , loved her little treats everyone gave her , she is no longer with use but will be remembered by the thousands you saw her by her little place along the highway , just would be hard to eat something you were friends with , but each to his own , someday maybe we can chow down on your dog , or cat , the other white meat LOL

I remember reading a story close to two years ago, about a monkey that sat next to the roadway on the road from Las Tablas to Pedasi. This is the same ?

Originally Posted by jimmy

I remember reading a story close to two years ago, about a monkey that sat next to the roadway on the road from Las Tablas to Pedasi. This is the same ?

yes jimmy that was lola , the friendly wild monkey in panama , right near the town of la palma , it is a experiance i will never forget and everytime i drive by there i still look , old habits i guess .

Thats amazing. Yes I remember feeling sad about that story. Remind me to tell you about my 3 baboons that I had for 8 yrs.